6 More Ways To Cuff Your Denim

Our first article on cuffing your denim a while back received quite a bit of feedback, inspiring this second article outlining a number of further ways to individualize your raw denim. Cuffing may not be for everyone, as some may choose to wear their jeans sans-cuffs or may choose to shorten an inseam with chainstitch hemming rather than cuffing. But for those who choose to cuff, here are six more ways to cuff your favorite pair.

1. The Long Single Roll

The Long Single Roll

Starting with basics, the simplest way of cuffing your jeans is the single roll. Covered in our first denim cuffing guide, this variation basically entails putting a couple of inches of denim into your roll. While it may not work for some people with longer legs, it can be a great way to get rid of some extra inseam length while still maintaining the slim nature of the jean rather than having a ton of little rolls sitting at the bottom.

2. The Inner Roll

The Inner Cuff after one roll

The Inner Cuff after a second roll

The inner cuff is a slightly atypical cuff, as it removes the element of showing off your selvedge by requiring you to roll the denim inside itself. Basically, start with your hem normally, then repeat the steps you’d take to a skinny cuff but the opposite way around, keeping each fold inside the jean. This can be a good way to take a little length off and give yourself a unique looking cuff at the base of your denim.

3. The Summer Cuff

The Summer Cuffs

The summer cuff is a very idealistic cuff, one that is basically only effective in a select few months of the year. The point of the summer cuff is to expose as much of your calves as possible to the summer sun as well as keeping yourself a bit cooler. The idea here is to use the same technique as the double cuff, but keep going until you reach your desired height. As an alternative, you may just want to roll the cuff a couple of times, then slide it the rest of the way up your calf. This prevents excess rolling while giving the desired summer cuff effect.

4. The Cyclist

The Cyclist Cuff

The cyclist cuff is simple, it’s the summer cuff, but on only one leg. The aim is to avoid getting chain grease on your pant leg that typically sits next to the chain (usually your right), by removing the denim from the area the chain can get at. Either continuously cuff the denim until it’s past the dangerous area, or give it a couple of cuffs before sliding it over your calf and out of the way. The cyclist, as with the summer cuff, will often end just below the knee, as it is rare the denim can actually fit over.

5. The “Master Roll”

The First Roll in the Master Roll

The Master Roll Cuffed DOWN Once

The Finished Master Roll

The Master Roll is another way to do a double roll, long single roll or skinny cuff. Take the bottom five inches or so of denim, roll that up, then proceed to do your cuffing using that five inches. The idea is to get the big roll out of the way, then be able to focus on cuffing back into that roll. It’s a matter of preference, but is certainly a tidy option.

6. The Double Cuff with Chain stitching Showing (for Richard)

The First Step of Chainstitch Cuffing

The Finished Double Cuff with Chainstitch Showing

One of the comments on our initial article on cuffing suggested his own unique version of cuffing, the double cuff with chain stitching showing. Here, you do a long single cuff and you then cuff it over the long single cuff, but don’t cover the chainstich. You’ll end up with a cuff, then the original cuff ending above it with the chain stitch still available for all to see. Thank you Richard for the suggestion.

Based in Vancouver, BC, Canada, Connor grew an interest in raw denim thanks to the process, maturation, patience and craft that goes into each individual pair. He also writes at REPOSITORY which he started alongside Rawr founder Nick Coe.

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I ride in my jeans a ton, and used to do the cyclist cuff all the time. Lately however, I’ve been pegging my pant leg on the right. I bring together extra denim then do a double roll. It keeps everything away from the chain and nasty bits, but isn’t as obvious if I forget to undo it and walk around for a few hours.

Vinyl Scratch

Personally, I wouldn’t worry about getting bike chain grease on your jeans; it adds character to your denim and gives them that extra personal touch to make them your own. But I suppose I could see why some people would want to preserve the “tidiness” of their jeans, if that’s the look you are trying to achieve. I just think jeans are meant to be worn to accurately reflect your lifestyle, not hide anything from it.

RawrB

I agree with this, the grease adds awesomeness to jeans. I only do the cyclist cuff if my jeans have a high chance of getting caught in the chain. This happened to a buddy of mine and he ate crap and broke a limb!